Arsenal fans pick out incident referee didn’t book Man City star after Leandro Trossard controversy

Arsenal fans are incensed after spotting an incident in the first half which they feel is the same as the one which saw Leandro Trossard sent off.

The first half of Arsenal vs Manchester City has been absolutely mental, with three goals, a major injury to Rodri, and a red card for the Belgian forward.

Trossard was sent off for a second yellow after committing a foul then delaying the restart.

A tactic common amongst both teams to delay proceedings, Arsenal fans were incensed after finding out a City player did the same thing in the first half and avoided a booking.

Arsenal fan twitter page AFCNewsroom posted a video of winger Jeremy Doku kicking the ball away in the first half after a free kick is given to Arsenal, and not receiving a yellow card.

They posted the video with the caption: "Jeremy Doku kicks the ball away stopping a quick restart without receiving a yellow card".

Jeremy Doku kicks the ball away stopping a quick restart without receiving a yellow card 😶 pic.twitter.com/YZv4KU6LkY

— AFCnewsroom (@TheAFCnewsroom) September 22, 2024

Another account tweeted: "Just don’t get how you can be so eager to fling the second yellow out but didn’t book Doku for the same thing 30 minutes prior to it, no one’s arsed about the rules, it’s the inconsistency the rules are being carried out with.

"They really don’t help themselves, do they?"

They followed up by replying: "OH MY GOD, BOTH ARE YELLOWS. IM COMPLAINING ABOUT THE CONSISTENCY NOT THE DECISION."

Others pointed out, however, that it appears that Doku is kicking the ball to where the free kick has been given.

They pointed to Michael Oliver pointing backwards, however when the issue was discussed at half time, Paul Merson was not convinced.

Merson claimed that Doku clearly kicks it past Declan Rice, where he should be putting the ball, and therefore delays the restart.

The former Arsenal winger said: "You’ve got to use a bit of common sense here or you’d just be sending people off left right and centre”.

Despite this, one fan tweeted: "Oliver was wanting the ball to be placed further back so Doku kicked it there.

"You can see him pointing."